Storms, cyclones and quakes: the earth really moved on the honeymoon from hell

April 6, 2011 — 11.25am

Honeymoons aren't always easy for newlyweds, but six natural disasters?

When Stefan and Erika Svanstrom of Stockholm set out on their four-month-long honeymoon with their baby daughter on December 6, they said they got more than they bargained for - immediately they were stranded in Munich, Germany, due to one of Europe's worst snowstorms.

The earth moved ... for Stefan and Erika Svanstrom experienced snowstorms, then a cyclone, and two earthquakes.

But that was just the beginning.

After that, Mr Svanstrom said, they experienced the devastation of a cyclone in Cairns and the flooding in Brisbane, and narrowly escaped the bushfires in Perth, the Expressen newspaper reported.

"We escaped by the skin of our teeth," Mr Svanstrom said, recalling how they were evacuated in Cairns and were forced to spend 24 hours on a cement floor in a shopping centre with 2500 others.

"Trees were being knocked over and big branches were scattered across the streets."

Just before the trio arrived in New Zealand, the 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch.

Mrs Svanstrom said her worried mother called her.

"We were there, the whole town was a war zone. We could not visit the city since it was completely blocked off," Mrs Svanstrom said.

In Tokyo, they felt Japan's largest tremor since records began, Mr Svanstrom said.

"The trembling was horrible and we saw roof tiles fly off the buildings. It was like the buildings were swaying back and forth," he said, adding that he survived the devastating tsunami that hit south-east Asia in 2004.

On March 29, the family returned to Stockholm after a much calmer visit to their last destination, China.

We've certainly experienced more than our fair share of catastrophes in a marriage, but the most important thing is that we're still going strong

Mrs Svanstrom said she could "only laugh".

"You think: 'Are we weather persecuted? What will happen next?' It is almost absurd."

"I know marriages have to endure some trials, but I think we have been through most of them," Mr Svanstrom said.

For newlyweds "we've certainly experienced more than our fair share of catastrophes in a marriage, but the most important thing is that we're still going strong", he added.